On July 12, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) published a new set of standards of interest to the health IT community. The agency’s announcement Wednesday began thus:
“ONC just published the Approved Standards for 2023 as part of ONC’s annual Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP). As a quick refresher, The SVAP is designed to make the ONC Health IT Certification Program responsive to industry needs and better aligned with standards version advancement. The SVAP helps expedite the use of newer versions of standards under the Program and improves the ability of health IT developers to provide relevant, timely, and innovative solutions to their clients.”
Rob Anthony of ONC wrote a blog on ONC’s website describing the announcement in full. Below are excerpts from the announcement.
“Six Standards Advance as Part of SVAP 2023: ONC has now published the Approved Standards for 2023 (2023 SVAP standards) as part of ONC’s annual Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP). The SVAP is designed to make the ONC Health IT Certification Program (the Program) responsive to industry needs and better aligned with standards version advancement. The SVAP helps expedite the use of newer versions of standards under the Program and improves the ability of health IT developers to provide relevant, timely, and innovative solutions to their clients.
Beginning August 29, 2023, health IT developers participating in the Program can voluntarily incorporate new versions of standards approved by the national coordinator into their certified Health IT Modules. To support implementation of the new 2023 SVAP standards, ONC will update the associated test data and tools, including the Cypress Testing Tool, the Edge Test Tool’s (ETT) C-CDA validators and the Inferno Framework’s “g.10 Standardized API Test Kit” by December 31, 2023.
Developers with products already certified to one or more certification criteria that include SVAP standards can advance to any of the 2023 SVAP standards without testing by informing their ONC-Approved Certification Bodies and their customers. However, developers wanting to certify a new product directly to one of the 2023 SVAP standards will have to wait until updated test tools are available in December 2023. Developers must also include all SVAP standard(s) in their upcoming Real World Testing plans.
Developers with products already certified to one or more certification criteria that include SVAP standards can advance to any of the 2023 SVAP standards without testing by informing their ONC-Approved Certification Bodies and their customers. However, developers wanting to certify a new product directly to one of the 2023 SVAP standards will have to wait until updated test tools are available in December 2023. Developers must also include all SVAP standard(s) in their upcoming Real World Testing plans.”
Anthony referred readers to the SVAP Fact Sheet, which can be accessed here.
Later on in the announcement, under the heading “Notable Updates and Background on the 2023 Approved SVAP Standards,” Anthony noted that “The Approved SVAP Standards for 2023 include the advancement of six standards. The United States Core Data for Interoperability version 3 (USCDI v3) is among the notable standards approved for the 2023 SVAP cycle, as are three HL7 standards related to C-CDA, FHIR, and QRDA. USCDI v3 will advance important health equity work via key patient demographic data and will be included in two of the HL7 standards. Also included in the 2023 SVAP cycle are annual updates of the CMS Implementation Guides for Quality Reporting Document Architecture (QRDA) (Categories I & III).”
Anthony goes on to explain in some detail what USCDI v3 involves, noting that “This version includes several updates and expansions to the previous version, USCDI version 2 (USCDI v2). The key changes in USCDI v3 include the addition of new data elements related to social determinants of health such as race, ethnicity, and language preference. There are also several new data elements related to clinical care such as allergies, adverse reactions, and immunizations.”
Further on, Anthony notes that “The two HL7 standards that incorporate USCDI v3 include the HL7® CDA R2 Implementation Guide: C-CDA Templates for Clinical Notes Release 4.1-US and the HL7® FHIR® US Core Implementation Guide STU 6.1.0. These standards will continue to guide industry toward consistent implementation of USCDI v3.” Anthony also makes note of additional updates, including “the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) QRDA Category I and III Implementation Guides included in the criterion to support CMS’ Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting and the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Programs reporting requirements.”
And later on, he adds that “Coinciding with the annual advancement of the CMS QRDA Category I implementation guide, this standard leverages the SVAP’s annual advancement process to ensure that developers maintain adherence to individual and aggregate quality measure CMS’ Promoting Interoperability reporting requirements.”
Below are the links provided at the close of the blog:
https://www.healthit.gov/isa/sites/isa/files/2022-10/USCDI-Version-3-October-2022-Errata-Final.pdf
https://www.hl7.org/implement/standards/product_brief.cfm?product_id=447
https://www.hl7.org/implement/standards/product_brief.cfm?product_id=35
https://ecqi.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/QRDA-HQR-2023-CMS-IG-I.v1.2-508.pdf
https://ecqi.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/2023-CMS-QRDA-III-Eligible-Clinicians-IG-v1.1-508.pdf
